Mayhem, Summer, and Dinners This Week

I know it’s such a cliché, but WHERE DOES THE TIME GO? This week marks the beginning of May. MAY, people. May is going to be utter mayhem, that’s for sure, and I am already bracing for impact. Carla has so much going on. Three performances, a school presentation, a school trip, a fifth grade “graduation” ceremony, TWO class parties. On top of all the normal day-to-day chaos, of course, with three extracurricular activities that each meet twice weekly. And then BAM!, it will be summer break.

I tried to plan this summer so that it would be easier than last summer. Last summer, of course, we both bought and sold a house, so at least we won’t be dealing with THAT nonsense again. But I think we also over-scheduled Carla last summer. She had summer camp, plus she continued her music lessons through summer. That doesn’t sound like a lot, but I felt like we were constantly on the go – like there was no “break” from the busy schedule of the school year. 

This summer, I want time to relax by the pool and have friends over. But… Carla still wants to do summer camp. I am FULLY in favor of camp. While it sounds restful and decadent to spend the summer doing nothing by the pool, I feel like our days would end up being filled by a lot of screen time. And how many playdates can I really handle? Not enough to give Carla the same kind of social interaction she’ll get at summer camp, that’s for sure. So. Summer camp it is.

Okay, so summer camp by itself still gives us evenings and weekends to play and relax. But… Carla is considering trying out a new sport and maybe a new musical instrument. On top of that, we have two other commitments that will take place weekly after camp. Ugh. Now summer is sounding just as hectic as the school year! 

Maybe this is simply a busy season of our lives and I should learn to lean into it, instead of trying to force things to slow down? (Note: I realize that, once again, these are the Champagnest of “problems.”)

One thing that’s always constant: the need to plan and prepare meals. Once again, we’ll have two nights of takeout. I am ready to be done with THAT aspect of this school year. Takeout is fantastic once in awhile, but I am weary of it by now. And the annoying thing is, no matter how much I try to pack my day with nutrient dense foods, by the time dinner rolls around, I am so ravenous I scarf down a bunch of fries or chips. I love fries and chips, don’t get me wrong. But I don’t want or need to be eating them twice weekly. Well. Just a few more weeks of this nonsense left. 

(You may be thinking, Suzanne, simply DON’T ORDER the fries or chips. And yet… I find this hard to do??? When it comes down to it, I am extremely picky. My child, also extremely picky, only has two or three places where she will deign to eat on these takeout nights. And there are only a few options at each of them that I can stand to eat. Plus, I have a lifelong resistance to paying good money for food I don’t like. If I’m going to spend extra money on takeout, I am going to enjoy it, dammit. So. Loading up on fries and chips. I am my own worst enemy, etc.)

I DO have control over what I can make at home, though! So I will try to compensate for the takeout with some protein and veggie packed meals. 

Dinners for the Week of April 29-May 5

• Sheet Pan Lemon Garlic Chicken with Potatoes and Veggies: You KNOW I love a sheet pan meal. And I have a bunch of broccoli in the fridge that needs to be used up. 

• Caesar Chicken with Salad: I cannot for the life of me remember where I saw this idea, but it sounds easy enough: marinate some chicken in Caesar salad dressing and roast with a little parmesan sprinkled on. Pair it with a salad. My only question is whether I dress the salad with the Caesar dressing? Or go for a light vinaigrette instead???? I don’t want to over-Caesar myself. 

• Baked Pork Chops and Zucchini: Another sheet pan meal! This recipe calls for asparagus, but I already have some zucchini on hand, so I will probably use that instead.

• Golden Cauliflower Chickpea Bowls: These sound so nourishing right now. I bet my husband will want a chicken breast alongside his, and maybe I will add a salmon filet. We’ll see. I wonder if I could coax Carla into eating this? She likes crispy chickpeas…

 What are you eating, these last few days of April? How’s your summer shaping up?

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Father’s Day Logic Problem, Dinners This Week

Well, we have slipped seamlessly from Mayhem-May to Jumble-June. Everything is good! We are so fortunate! And yet I feel like I am constantly buzzing like a high-tension wire. Do not touch me or you will experience a shock. Either that or I will latch on to you like we are two halves of a Velcro fastener and make you listen to a litany of dumb things I am anxious about. I am not sure what to do first, and I am so overwhelmed that I am having trouble even putting together a to-do list. 

This feels near universal among my cohort, too. Everyone is dashing around in haphazard zigzags, trying to do all the things. WHAT is going on? Is every year like this and I just block the memory? Or is there something special about 2023?

One of the most pressing things on my mind (but not THE most, because everything seems very urgent right now) is Father’s Day. 

My husband requested that we go out for brunch, so I duly made a reservation. But now MY father is also in town for Father’s Day, which is wonderful; I cannot remember the last time I spent Father’s Day with him. But… I don’t know how to navigate this. Several weeks ago, I made dinner reservations for a place I think my father would like, but I haven’t asked if that’s how he wants to spend Father’s Day. 

And now it’s very possible that my father-in-law will be here for Father’s Day, too. He and my mother-in-law might be arriving on Monday, but they might be arriving on Sunday, and no one is clear on which, and I feel like I maybe could get the answer by calling my mother-in-law directly instead of relying on my husband but I don’t want to because it should not be my job to manage my husband’s parents’ plans. That’s a whole other issue that we are just going to stuff into a tiny drawer and firmly close. The more pressing issue is that now my father-in-law could be here for Father’s Day and if he is, I REALLY don’t know what to do. Maybe… spend the morning celebrating my husband, then we split up to celebrate our separate fathers? What do people DO, when they live in the same area as their family?

I feel like this shouldn’t be a big deal, and yet I simultaneously feel like I’m in the duck/birdseed/fox situation, staring at a boat and a river, and trying to figure out how to get all three across without anyone being eaten, and also I don’t know how to operate a boat. 

Okay! Briskly moving on to something I have full control over, which is food!

Dinners for the Week of June 12-June 18 (it is MID-JUNE already, people)

• Slow Cooker BBQ Pork with Baked Potatoes: I am in the mood for something saucy that I can put on a baked potato. We haven’t had BBQ pork in a while, and it fits the bill perfectly. I literally chop up an onion, throw it into the slow cooker with a pork tenderloin, and then douse the whole thing with my favorite BBQ sauce, some shakes of sriracha, and maybe some minced garlic. It is so easy. I know some people feel that chopping an onion negates the “so easy” claim, but it’s not like the chopping has to be uniform! It’s a very rough chop, takes two minutes. After a few hours in the slow cooker, I shred the pork and then put it on top of a baked potato. 

• Greek Chicken Chopped Salad: I have just been in the mood for a crisp Greek salad with crumbly feta lately. 

• Hot Honey Crispy Salmon Bowls: Instagram keeps showing me reels about hot honey salmon and I have finally cracked under the pressure. I wonder if this will be the secret code that unlocks my husband’s heretofore dormant love of salmon?

• Basil Chickpea Curry: This sounds yummy and perfect for some of the rainy days predicted this week.

What are you doing for dinners this week? Is your June a chaotic jumble?

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